Even on Day 1, I believe this game is an excellent tac-shooter. It provides an intensity to CQB unlike anything else on the market, and I really don't think this is comparable at all to other CQB games (i.e. RoN). Enemies use murder-holes, position themselves carefully, constantly flank and hunt you down, and generally never let up pressure. As a result, this game is far more chaotic than one might expect from a game about room-clearing and kicking in doors, as enemies will not simply stand still and allow you to kill them. It absolutely necessitates teamwork and communication unlike anything else I've played.

I think that if you are in the market for that sort of intense CQB shooter, then this is a must-buy. It's only bolstered by EXCELLENT audio & environmental design and procedural generation. The audio is sublime, and has absolutely everything you need to get immersed -- from the rattling of a grenade bumping off each piece of junk and furniture as it rolls into a building, to bottles and dinner plates getting kicked around as Marines walk through a room, I just kept getting surprised at how much variety there was to the audio beyond the sounds of actual combat itself. I was also constantly impressed by the game's interiors, each of which feels like people actually lived there at some point. There are living rooms with the leftovers of a family's dinner, cramped kitchens with microwaves and dirty dishes, and houses with boarded up windows and ramshackle barricades set up by insurgents to serve as fatal funnels. They feel far too curated and well-crafted to be procedurally generated, yet they are! It just serves to impress every time you run a mission.

I also believe that the historical angle of this game is absolutely brilliant. It is not just 'any' vague middle eastern war, but the 2004 2nd Battle of Fallujah. There is a lot to learn about that time period that is reflected through the game's design. It makes a note to point out that not all insurgents were Iraqi, but instead that the Iraq War became a setting for various groups and militias that held a grudge against the West to flock to Iraq and kill US soldiers. This is seen in-game, as a sniper that may hunt the players may not be Iraqi, but a foreign Chechen fighter. There is also a mission where your squad is being pinned down by a shooter perched in a mosque. This is because at the time, mosques were considered no-shoots by the US Military for religious reasons, and so insurgent groups took heavy advantage of this fact. In real-life, this decision cost many Marines their lives, and the intense danger it put Marines through is reflected through the gameplay, where you must complete the mission under these strict Rules of Engagement -- even when it means having to maneuver around deadly-accurate sniper fire. There is a lot to learn here, and it's almost like playing through a documentary, just as much as it is a simulation. For me, this is a big plus. I cannot wait to see what the developers do next with it.

Even on Day 1, I believe this game is an excellent tac-shooter. It provides an intensity to CQB unlike anything else on the market, and I really don't think this is comparable at all to other CQB games (i.e. RoN). Enemies use murder-holes, position themselves carefully, constantly flank and hunt you down, and generally never let up pressure. As a result, this game is far more chaotic than one might expect from a game about room-clearing and kicking in doors, as enemies will not simply stand still and allow you to kill them. It absolutely necessitates teamwork and communication unlike anything else I've played. I think that if you are in the market for that sort of intense CQB shooter, then this is a must-buy. It's only bolstered by EXCELLENT audio & environmental design and procedural generation. The audio is sublime, and has absolutely everything you need to get immersed -- from the rattling of a grenade bumping off each piece of junk and furniture as it rolls into a building, to bottles and dinner plates getting kicked around as Marines walk through a room, I just kept getting surprised at how much variety there was to the audio beyond the sounds of actual combat itself. I was also constantly impressed by the game's interiors, each of which feels like people actually lived there at some point. There are living rooms with the leftovers of a family's dinner, cramped kitchens with microwaves and dirty dishes, and houses with boarded up windows and ramshackle barricades set up by insurgents to serve as fatal funnels. They feel far too curated and well-crafted to be procedurally generated, yet they are! It just serves to impress every time you run a mission. I also believe that the historical angle of this game is absolutely brilliant. It is not just 'any' vague middle eastern war, but the 2004 2nd Battle of Fallujah. There is a lot to learn about that time period that is reflected through the game's design. It makes a note to point out that not all insurgents were Iraqi, but instead that the Iraq War became a setting for various groups and militias that held a grudge against the West to flock to Iraq and kill US soldiers. This is seen in-game, as a sniper that may hunt the players may not be Iraqi, but a foreign Chechen fighter. There is also a mission where your squad is being pinned down by a shooter perched in a mosque. This is because at the time, mosques were considered no-shoots by the US Military for religious reasons, and so insurgent groups took heavy advantage of this fact. In real-life, this decision cost many Marines their lives, and the intense danger it put Marines through is reflected through the gameplay, where you must complete the mission under these strict Rules of Engagement -- even when it means having to maneuver around deadly-accurate sniper fire. There is a lot to learn here, and it's almost like playing through a documentary, just as much as it is a simulation. For me, this is a big plus. I cannot wait to see what the developers do next with it.